Improved blasting-fuse



T. H. WALTON.

Blasting-Fuse.

N. PETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D O.

Patented Jan. 3. 1865.

IIZVBIZZOZ" THOMAS H. WVALTON, OF ASHLAND, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED BLAS TlNG-FUSE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,77d, dated January3, 1865.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. WALTON, of Ashland, in the county ofSchuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and usefulImprovementsin Safety Blasting-Fuses; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which Willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which Figure l is a piece of blasting-fuse constructedafter my invention, and ready for use Fig. 2 is a transverse section OfthG same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

My fuse is intended for use by miners and others in blasting coal, rock,ore, and in other similar uses, and is intended as a substitute for themetal-barrel fuse, the flexible fuse, and other kinds. I make it byplowing a narrow groove,.B, in a strip of wood, A, which may be round,or of any other forin, and of any desirable length and dimensions. Thegroove may be of any suitable. shape. I place a train of powder,commonfuse, or any of their substitutes at the botqom of the groove, andcover and'protect it by laying over it in the groove any water-proofmaterial, such as oakum, tarred cord, pitch, or any other suit ablematerial, or any combination of such materials. One end, 0, of the fuseis to be inserted in or otherwise connected to the cartridge, and theother end is to be supplied with a slow-match, D, which is secured inthe groove B, as shown in Fig. 1. The slowmatch D projects from the fusea sufficient distance for safe operation.

When a blast is to be fired in any wet situation, my fuse is to beinserted in a waterproof cartridge in such a manner as to make the jointwater-tight. The cartridge and fuse are then placed in the drilled holeand tamped in the usual manner. The fuse is to be of such a length as toleave one end outside of the hole-to wit, the end provided with theslow-match D. The slow-match should be of the kind used in fire-works,which will hold fire and burn through any strangled position, for thematch will be, as pyrotechnists term it, strangled, in the interior ofthe fuse. A fuse constructed in this way may be used with safety andcertainty up to the length of, say, fifteen feet, more or less. It willbe much cheaper than the safety-fuse made of flexible materials, the useof which is almost abandoned in this country, on account of itsliability to cut and nip or strangle while the hole is being tamped, andthereby made useless for blasting in coal, and in similar sitnations.blastingbarrel now much used in coal-mines, which costs vastly more thanmy fuse. My fuse will not be liable to ignite the charge prematurely, asan iron needle does; and while it is water-proof, it will still not beliable to be cut or to collapse orstrangle where the least care is usedin tamping. The fuse may furthermore be coated with any water andweather proof substance over its whole surface, in addition to thecovering of the powder in its groove.

The fuse thus constructed may be properly called a safetyblasting-squib.

Having thus described my invention in the construction of safety-fusefor blasting, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

The safety blasting-fuse, constructed substantially as above set forth.

THOMAS H. WALTON. l/Vitnesses:

. HENRY S. BONER,

A. N. RAUB.

It will also be cheaper than the iron

